The present invention relates to templated inorganic compositions. More particularly, the present invention relates to templated inorganic liquid and glass compositions.
Liquid crystals exhibit unique properties due to anisotropic ordering and orientation of the mesogens within macroscopic domains of the material. The domain ordering in liquid crystals is typically dependant on the conditions under which the mesogens are processed, and the ordering can be obtained either by varying the concentration of the mesogen in solution (xe2x80x9clyotropicxe2x80x9d liquid crystallinity) or by varying the temperature of the neat mesogen (xe2x80x9cthermotropicxe2x80x9d liquid crystallinity). Ordered fluid phases are termed xe2x80x9cmesophasesxe2x80x9d in that their characteristics are intermediate between those of an isotropic liquid and those of a crystalline solid. The ordered phase of liquid crystals has many of the properties of the solid state such as optical anisotropy and birefringence which produce special interference patterns that can be detected using a cross polarizing microscope.
The design of structural order in complex fluids such as liquid crystals generally involves the construction of anisotropic molecular units, and thus, the vast majority of known liquid crystalline materials are organic molecules. More recently, materials that incorporate metals into the anisotropic molecules, described as metallomesogens, have been prepared in which the metal cations act as a template for a particular geometric organization of anisotropic organic ligands. (L. Serrano, Ed., Metallomesogens: Synthesis, Properties and Applications, VCH, New York 1995). Anisotropic structures such as 1-D chains and 2-D layers are also frequently observed in the solid-state for inorganic materials, although much less is understood about the structural organization in the melts of such materials.
The structure, and particularly the understanding of intermediate range order in glasses and viscous liquids has been the topic of considerable controversy. (S. R. Elliott, Nature, 1991, 354, 445-452; P. S. Salmon Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 1994, 445, 3151-365.) Some form of network organization is generally accepted for liquids such as SiO2, ZnCl2 and even H2O. (P. H. Poole, M. Hemmati, and C. A. Angell, Phys. Rev. Left., 1997, 2281-2284; H. E. Stanley, MRS Bull., 1999, 24, 22-30.) Numerous studies attempting to articulate the nature of the intermediate range order have focused on the origin of the xe2x80x9cfirst sharp diffraction peak,xe2x80x9d FSDP, observed in neutron and X-ray scattering experiments. Interpretations of FSDP origin vary from suggestions of its correlation to the first Bragg plane observed in a related crystalline phase of the material (P. H. Gaskell and D. J. Wallis, Phys. Rev. Lett., 1996, 76, 66-69), to proposals of cluster and chain type-units (A. Uhlherr and S. R. Elliott, J. Phys. Condens. Matter, 1994, 6, L99-L105), as well as models resulting from the void structure in the liquid. (S. R. Elliott, J. Phys. Condens. Matter, 1992, 4, 7661-7678; M. Wilson and P. A. Madden, Phys. Rev. Lett., 1998, 80, 532-535.) In view of this controversy and in view of the skepticism of the existence of large correlation lengths in liquids and glasses, there remains significant room for improvement and innovation in the design of intermediate range structural order in inorganic liquid and glasses compositions.
The observation of liquid crystallinity in inorganic systems is uncommon. (A. S. Sonin, J. Mater. Chem., 1998, 8, 2557.) While recognized as early as 1925 that sols of V2O5 form lyotropic-liquid crystals (H. Zocher, Z. Anorg. Atlg. Chem., 1925, 147, 91), the development of inorganic liquid crystalline systems other than dispersions of colloidal rod-like particles (T. Jiang, and G. A. Ozin, J. Mater. Chem., 1997, 7, 2213), has received very little attention. (D. -P. Kim and J. Economy, Chem. Mater., 1994, 6, 395; T. Jiang, and G. A. Ozin, J. Mater. Chem., 1997, 7, 2213; and A. Firouzi, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1997, 119, 3596.)
What is needed, then, is further characterization of inorganic liquids and glasses in an effort to facilitate the design of such compositions. This represents a significant deficiency in the art, particularly when inorganic liquid crystals could offer a range of unique properties by combining the fluid properties of liquid crystals with potential magnetic, conducting, dielectric, optical, redox and catalytic properties common to inorganic materials.
An inorganic liquid of hybrid composition or an inorganic glass of hybrid composition is disclosed. The composition comprises an inorganic component; and a template component, wherein the inorganic component and the template component are present in the composition in a ratio that provides an intermediate range structural order to the composition.
A metallotropic liquid crystalline composition is also disclosed. The composition comprises an inorganic component; and a template component, wherein the inorganic component and the template component are present in the composition in a ratio that provides an intermediate range structural order to the composition. The specific intermediate range order can further be controlled by the variation of the ratio of the inorganic and template components.
A metallotropic glass composition is also disclosed. The composition comprises an inorganic component; and a template component, wherein the inorganic component and the template component are present in the composition in a ratio that provides an intermediate range structural order to the composition. The specific intermediate range order can further be controlled by the variation of the ratio of the inorganic and template components.
A method of preparing an inorganic liquid or glass that is a hybrid material comprising an inorganic component and an organic component that together exhibit an intermediate range structural order is also disclosed. The method comprises: providing an inorganic component; providing a template component; and mixing the inorganic and the template components at a ratio that provides an intermediate range structural order, whereby an inorganic hybrid material having an intermediate range structural order is produced.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel templated inorganic liquid or glass composition. The object is achieved in whole or in part by the present invention.